{"id":9086,"date":"2024-08-30T04:29:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T04:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/?p=9086"},"modified":"2024-08-29T08:31:13","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T08:31:13","slug":"il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"Scam Cities\u2019 issue in Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><em>This is how Southeast Asian countries are trying to counter the phenomenon<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Article by Francesca Leva<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\" translation-block\">A phenomenon that has emerged in Asia, specifically in South-East Asia, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is the one of the so-called \u201cScam Cities\u201d. A UN Office on Drugs and Crime report estimated that \u201cthe scam industry is earning criminal groups the equivalent of billions of US dollars.\u201d Moreover, these earnings are comparable to the gross domestic product (GDP) of certain countries in the region. The study indicated that in an undisclosed Southeast Asian nation, conservative estimates placed the scammer's earnings between US$7.5 billion and US$12.5 billion, which is nearly half of that country's GDP in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\" translation-block\">The victims of this human trafficking activity are typically young citizens from China Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, and other Southeast Asian countries. However, as this activity expands, more and more victims are recruited from India, Africa, and Latin America. With the promises of a profitable new career - as well as VISAS, paid flights, and proof of accommodation \u2013 individuals are lured into moving to a new country to pursue a promising career. However, upon arrival, the victims are then directly transferred to prison-like compounds, usually located outside casinos or on the outskirts of the cities. There, individuals are turned into prisoners and forced to buy their freedom back by working for the owners of these activities. The illegal activities individuals are forced to undertake vary from online scams for money, romance-investment scams, crypto fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling. Phil Robertson, Asia director for the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, declared that: \u201cThe litany of rights violations are shocking, including false recruitment, stripping people of their passports and other identity documents, abductions and trafficking, confinement, debt bondage, forced labor, physical beatings, and sexual abuse\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police authorities identified some hotspots in the eastern Shan State in Myanmar, situated adjacent to China in the northern region, along with various locations in Cambodia such as Poi Pet, Sihanoukville, and Svay Rieng, as well as other sites, including those in the Philippines and the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Bokeo, northwest Laos. However, many of these cities are located alongside or in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), which, due to the relaxed regulation devised to attract investments, turn into lawless areas controlled by private security firms, over which local police have no control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\" translation-block\">Interestingly, this phenomenon poses a threat to China for both internal policy reasons and cross-border security, making it a geopolitical issue. For the former, gambling has been outlawed by the Communist Party since 1949, both in China and abroad: engaging in any type of gambling, including online gambling, gambling outside the country, or establishing casinos abroad to target Chinese nationals as main clientele specifically, is deemed unlawful. This is mainly due to the fact that Beijing considers capital outflows and illegal gambling as a threat to its social stability. This has transformed Asia\u2019s gaming industry: most of the casinos that opened in Southeast Asia were explicitly opened to attract Chinese citizens, and this strategy has proven to be effective: every year, almost 1trn yuan ($144bn) leaves China for gambling purposes, and an estimated fifth of outbound flights from China is for gambling trips. In the SEZ along the Chinese border, the business is flourishing: Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in northern Laos is the Kings Romans Casino is controlled by Zhao Wei, a Chinese national who craftily devised its activities as \u201cpatriotic.\u201d Jason Tower, country director for Myanmar at the United States Institute for Peace, declared: \u201cA lot of these individuals set up patriotic associations overseas and try to demonstrate, in a very public manner, allegiance to Communist Party initiatives \u2013 and they fund those initiatives [\u2026], they extend the reach of the international front on Taiwan issues. They go after Westerners who criticize China on Xinjiang or Tibet. And they\u2019re making it difficult and costly for the state to crack down because it would mean making some of the Chinese state initiatives look bad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Myanmar, fraudulent hubs are overseen by local militias in collaboration with the military junta governing the nation, fostering a symbiotic relationship that yields benefits for both sides. Situated near the Chinese border, these hubs endanger Chinese nationals drawn to them and pose a threat to cross-border stability, leading to mounting impatience from China. This discord creates an opportunity for dissenting factions within Myanmar, as opposed to military authority, to eliminate these fraudulent hubs\u2014as witnessed in October 2023\u2014and convey solidarity to China. This alignment could potentially translate into future backing from China, shaping the course of the civil conflict in Myanmar.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cos\u00ec i Paesi del Sud-Est asiatico stanno provando a contrastare il fenomeno Articolo di Francesca Leva Un fenomeno che \u00e8 emerso in Asia, in particolare nel Sud-Est asiatico, a partire dallo scoppio dell\u2019epidemia di Covid19 \u00e8 quello delle cosiddette Scam Cities. Secondo un report dell\u2019UN Office on Drugs and Crime, si stima che \u201cthe scam<a class=\"btn btn-primary more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":9087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":[],"_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":0,"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":""},"categories":[92,514],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Il problema delle Scam Cities in Asia - Associazione Italia Asean<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Il problema delle Scam Cities in Asia - Associazione Italia Asean\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cos\u00ec i Paesi del Sud-Est asiatico stanno provando a contrastare il fenomeno Articolo di Francesca Leva Un fenomeno che \u00e8 emerso in Asia, in particolare nel Sud-Est asiatico, a partire dallo scoppio dell\u2019epidemia di Covid19 \u00e8 quello delle cosiddette Scam Cities. Secondo un report dell\u2019UN Office on Drugs and Crime, si stima che \u201cthe scamContinue reading\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Associazione Italia Asean\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-30T04:29:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-29T08:31:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-VEN-30.8-Leva-foto.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Redazione\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/\",\"name\":\"Associazione Italia Asean\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-VEN-30.8-Leva-foto.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-VEN-30.8-Leva-foto.jpeg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/\",\"name\":\"Il problema delle Scam Cities in Asia - Associazione Italia Asean\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-30T04:29:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-29T08:31:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5f42a9b786e7464950082a049475085c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Il problema delle Scam Cities in Asia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5f42a9b786e7464950082a049475085c\",\"name\":\"Redazione\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/12\/5dd7e6b2b87b8-bpfull.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/12\/5dd7e6b2b87b8-bpfull.png\",\"caption\":\"Redazione\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/\/members\/andrealamberti\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Il problema delle Scam Cities in Asia - Associazione Italia Asean","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Il problema delle Scam Cities in Asia - Associazione Italia Asean","og_description":"Cos\u00ec i Paesi del Sud-Est asiatico stanno provando a contrastare il fenomeno Articolo di Francesca Leva Un fenomeno che \u00e8 emerso in Asia, in particolare nel Sud-Est asiatico, a partire dallo scoppio dell\u2019epidemia di Covid19 \u00e8 quello delle cosiddette Scam Cities. Secondo un report dell\u2019UN Office on Drugs and Crime, si stima che \u201cthe scamContinue reading","og_url":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/","og_site_name":"Associazione Italia Asean","article_published_time":"2024-08-30T04:29:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-29T08:31:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-VEN-30.8-Leva-foto.jpeg","path":"\/var\/www\/www.itasean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-VEN-30.8-Leva-foto.jpeg","size":"full","id":9087,"alt":"","pixels":921600,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Redazione","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/","name":"Associazione Italia Asean","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-GB","url":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-VEN-30.8-Leva-foto.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-VEN-30.8-Leva-foto.jpeg","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/","name":"Il problema delle Scam Cities in Asia - Associazione Italia Asean","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2024-08-30T04:29:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-29T08:31:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5f42a9b786e7464950082a049475085c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/il-problema-delle-scam-cities-in-asia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Il problema delle Scam Cities in Asia"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/#\/schema\/person\/5f42a9b786e7464950082a049475085c","name":"Redazione","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-GB","url":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/12\/5dd7e6b2b87b8-bpfull.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/12\/5dd7e6b2b87b8-bpfull.png","caption":"Redazione"},"url":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/\/members\/andrealamberti\/"}]}},"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9086"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9086"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9088,"href":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9086\/revisions\/9088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itasean.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}